Boy, 12, gets maximum sentence for school shooting

A 12-year-old boy was given the maximum sentence Wednesday for a school shooting at Berrendo Middle School Jan. 14 that injured two students.

ROSWELL, N.M. >> A New Mexico judge rejected pleas for leniency Wednesday and handed down the maximum sentence for a then-12-year-old boy who opened fire in a Roswell middle school gym earlier this year, injuring two students.

State District Judge Freddie Romero ordered the boy, now 13, held in state custody until he is 21. His decision followed a daylong hearing in which the shooter apologized, the defense argued he was the victim of chronic bullying, and the two students wounded in the shooting detailed their permanent injuries.

"It's a miracle that I'm alive right now," said 12-year-old Nathaniel Tavarez, who was shot in the face Jan. 14 at Berrendo Middle School. "My vision is still seriously impaired, but there is hope. I have conquered many things the doctors said I never would."

Special prosecutor Matt Chandler read a statement from the other victim, 13-year-old Kendal Sanders, as she stood at the podium with Tavarez.

Sanders wrote that she has more than 150 lead pellets in her body and might never be able to have children. The pellets cause lead poisoning and make her ill and tired.

"I have to see those scars every single day for the rest of my life," she wrote. "(He) will be able to live the rest of his life the way he wants, even have a family."

In May, the boy pleaded no contest to three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and one count of carrying a firearm on school premises. His lawyers had asked that he be placed in treatment for two years and then be released if doctors determined he was no longer a danger. A defense memo said the boy was chronically bullied, is socially and emotionally immature, and regrets what he did.

"I'm very, very sorry," the boy said to Tavarez and Sanders. The Associated Press typically doesn't identify juveniles charged with crimes.

The boy's mother urged the judge to consider what her son had gone through.

"This is a child who was tortured and bulled on a daily basis. ... I want you to realize that he is a child," she said. "I also want you to realize he has not stopped praying for Nathaniel and Kendal and (security guard Kevin) Hayes." Hayes received minor injuries.

But the teacher who helped Tavarez after he was shot called the incident a "very deliberate act of violence" and urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence.

Chandler, after the hearing, said neither of the victims were bullies.

"These are some sweet, caring, softhearted individuals that were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and for an individual, whether they're 12 years old or an adult, to take out their frustrations on innocent bystanders is wrong any way you look at it," the special prosecutor said.

Chandler noted Nathaniel and Kendal are suffering the consequences of something that happened to the boy "perhaps weeks before this, months before this, but they are not the reason for the bullying."

"It's something that needs to be addressed but certainly by no means by acts of violence," he said.

Chandler said the families of both victims were pleased with the verdict.

Sanders said she accepted the boy's apology.

"He's a really good kid that made a bad decision," she said after the sentencing.

Tavarez, however, said he is not ready to forgive "until God tells me to."

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HOSSANAwrote:

Boo! Hoo! This punk got what he deserved. Finally, justice is well served. Nothing more and nothing less.

on July 2,2014 | 05:38PM

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falsewrote:

Obviously he slipped through the cracks of the counseling staff. Bullies are well known in every school system. The appear on disciplinary radar for years and just get passed around. When does the school stop and intervene before the threats become vile? Saw it, heard it and questioned it. Evidence shredded. Next.....

on July 2,2014 | 05:50PM

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tigerwarriorwrote:

Although I firmly believe that guns kill people--I'll give this argument a rest for this once. Perhaps schools could red-flag students who are prescribed Selective Serotonin Re-Uptake Inhibitors (SSRI drugs) such as Ritalin and Prozac. In some cases, these prescription meds are known to cause suicidal and anti-social behavior. Some claim that these psychiatric/psychotropic drugs have been the common denominator in nearly every mass shooting during the past two decades. Psychotropic drugs are on the verge of doing what crack cocaine did in the late '80s and early '90s when gun violence and mass shootings peaked--for cocaine likewise acts as a serotonin re-uptake inhibitor.

on July 2,2014 | 06:51PM

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Bumbywrote:

Some bullies are good acting like calves when authority is around.

on July 2,2014 | 06:21PM

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HaoleGuywrote:

Very true.

on July 2,2014 | 11:12PM

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charjawrote:

So who are the "real" bullies that he did not shoot? Chandler (the prosecutor), after the hearing, said neither of the victims were bullies. Nothing from the defense attorney or accused about who the "real" bullies were. I'm wondering if during the trial, the two victims were actually identified as being "bullies."

on July 2,2014 | 07:16PM

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gmejkwrote:

Kids make dumb mistakes, though mostly not this bad, every day. People who criticize teachers don't realize that teaching is not as simple as presenting and explaining material, it's also dealing with kids who act out in these unpredictable and dangerous ways. The kid may be sorry, but there needs to be consequences, and the consequences have to be a deterrent for others who may do the same thing.